Fiorina failed to register business, foundation

[Are_grits_groceries]

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, one of the world's leading businesswomen and a possible 2010 opponent to Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, tells the public she's the CEO of her own business and the chairwoman of her own charitable foundation.

But a Chronicle check of public records shows that Fiorina, a former economic adviser to 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain, has never registered her Carly Fiorina Enterprises to conduct business in California, either with the California secretary of state or the clerk of Santa Clara County, where Fiorina lives.

Records also show that her Fiorina Foundation has never registered with the Internal Revenue Service or the state attorney general's charitable trust division, which tax- exempt charities are required to do. The foundation "enables corporations, social entrepreneurs and philanthropists alike to address some of the world's most challenging issues," according to Fiorina's Web site, carlyfiorina.com.

Tax, campaign problems
Business and political experts say her failure to record the existence of the organizations could cause tax and campaign problems for Fiorina, 54.

Contacted Thursday by The Chronicle, Fiorina's office confirmed that neither her charitable foundation nor Fiorina Enterprises has been registered with state or federal authorities. A spokeswoman said Fiorina and her staff believe the foundation is not required to file with the IRS because it accepts no outside contributions and donates only her personal wealth to worthy causes.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/09/MNKQ18LN01.DTL&feed=rss.news

Oooooooooooooops...

[Curtland1015]

1. Haw! For 'one of the world's leading businesswomen'....

...she seems pretty incompetent.

But then, she worked on the McCain campaign...

[nc4bo]

2. Didn't she run HP into the ground? nt

[liberal N proud]

7. She was fired from HP

[DCKit]

8. With great press, too. All the way down. n/t

[Deja Q]

9. Yep - and fired. Very karmic... of course, if she got her golden parachute,

we all know she did.

[Ilsa]

4. Personally, I think McCain would have done better with Fiorina

as a running mate. She would be a nightmare if she became pres, but I think her past titles (not performance) would have shorn up his shortcomings in economics and business (no one seemed to care about Bush's shortcomings in runing a business).

[Swede]

3. So she therefor does not ask for tax deduction receipts?

I doubt it.

[panAmerican]

5. I don't think anything's wrong here, with the foundation

It's funded by her own money, no other contributors.

[gratuitous]

6. Then what's the point of the grandiosely named Fiorina Foundation?

Other than impressive-sounding but ersatz "credentials" that don't really mean anything? I suppose I could say that I am the President, CEO and Board Chair of the gratuitous Foundation, generously doling out more than 20% of my income to various and sundry eleeomosynary activities. But all it really boils down to is a line on my Schedule A.

[Deja Q]

11. It's the T-word, again...

Taxes.

I could make my own foundation, but I'd have to pay my dues too. Or find enough "legal" ways out of doing so.

It's all one freakin' sham anyway. A freakin' sham-wow.

[Deja Q]

10. Martha Stewart was thrown in the slammer for less.